Local democracy and the recession

An extract from Sean’s Cluster blog. If you haven’t already done so sign up to his blog to receive emails when new material is posted, and of course do that with this blog too!

“If you saw the local paper last week, you’ll understand that SBC is currently in a bit of a spin.

For the whole week, there were a series of talks in the Wyvern theatre for council staff, delivered by the CEO and the Chief Finance Officer Stuart McKellar –and the message was quite grim. For all the efficiency cuts that have already taken place, when central government announces the amount of the annual grant it gives Swindon in the Autumn, it is likely to be far, far less that what has already braced itself for. In essence, SBC has the next year to come up with a way to do what it does now, but for much less money.

To this, Leader of the Council Cllr Rhod Bluh and Deputy Leader Cllr Gary Perkins, spoke of ‘One Swindon’. This is talked to be new mid-term strategy for the council, and one to replace the 50 promises. The relevance here, to this particular blog/catch-up is the way that Connecting People Connecting Places is lined up to be the method of delivery for this idea. For more on Swindon Swindon Cabinet Report 21-7-10 given to cabinet”